Monday, May 7, 2012

Semi-Homemade Bedrooms: Modern Safari Nursery

Hi, y'all! It's me! I'm still here (but barely!) I just want to send a giant THANK YOU to my readers who continue to email me with just the sweetest words of encouragement. There's nothing like working a crazy day full of meetings... running a carpool to cheer practice... and then opening my blog email to read how I've inspired another mom while she's throwing together HER kiddo's party. Me, an inspiration? It's still shocking...

Thanks especially to Stacie in Ohio. She's got 2 sweet girls, a financial job (like me!), and tries to stay sane by being creative in the kitchen. You should see some of her cakes! That's something I've always wanted to do.... and I'VE been inspired by HER! My friend Juli and I are going to take a class! (Soon. Maybe during summer when things -ha! - slow down?)

This blog has been in draft for 9 months!!! Crazy. But, here it is... the last Semi-Homemade nursery I'll ever do for my own kiddos (I'm going to have to live thru others from here!) And I've decided that I'm going to do something I've never done... and share Punkin's real name with you. Partly because I'm hoping that I do enough to keep us anonymous and safe. And partly because... let's face it.... I'm lazy time-starved, and all that editing to keep the kids' names out of pictures is ALOTTA work. ;) But Sissy and Gman will keep their blog names. At least for now.

The idea: Semi-Homemade Modern Safari Nursery

The inspiration: before Pinterest, I had bookmarked websites, pulled out magazine pages, you name it... for THE most incredible PLAYROOM. We were going to build a floor plan with a playroom on the ground foor, and I pictured it to be a modern black and white room... with pops of lime green... In fact, I even blogged about it back in 2010 here.

We never built that floor plan.... but the idea for this room was the push I needed to NOT find out the gender with our lil Tiebreaker and wait til her birth!

The focal point: those of you who know my last nursery (G-man's all-over-Pinterest pirate nursery), know how I love a good decal for a big impact on the cheap. And I've worked with some good Etsy sellers, but Jill at WhimsyWallArt is AMAZING! She suffered through 17 notes back and forth with me and totally exceeded all my expectations. She was able to design a custom decal that matched back to the bedding. LOVE! Go check out her shop.... and know that you can throw any kind of custom request her way and see what she can do!﻿

Special touches: another Etsy find, this precious modern elephant mobile was a gift from my little sister. It's so sweet, and handmade... I just love it. Oh, and it plays music! From Etsy seller lollipop moon.

And I just love the custom bedding I ordered on Etsy. I told Mellissa at Mellissa's Boutique what I was envisioning... she put together a board of fabric options, and helped me decide on placement, number of fabrics, etc. I couldn't be happier! She even sent me the swatches right away, so I could match paint colors, and get shopping!

I love the bold colors of this room. Before we moved furniture into it, people would walk in and draw in a deep breath... maybe a gasp. ;) But I didn't hesitate in my love for a bold, bright nursery! I knew that adding the dimension of black furniture and some details to the wall... the balance would be perfect.

The print over the dresser is just a reasonably priced picture from Target. And a few fun frames from Hobby Lobby showcase some of Punkin's newborn pics, an old maternity pic fo me, and her birth announcement.

The baptismal gown hanging on her closet door was worn by both my girls and I just adore it.

Introducing....: I loved this decal the moment I saw it! Totally one.of.a.kind... this Subway Art birth announcement has all your punkin's birth info AND you get to add the sweet nicknames you love. Sold! :) So... introducing.... Bree Caroline. The sweetest punkin in all of Texas.

I'm totally guessing, but I think sweet Bree was about 4 months here..... Time flies! Can't believe that Punkin turned 1 a couple weeks ago. We had one of our most fun semi-homemade birthday parties yet! We had an outdoor movie party in the backyard, a party I started brainstorming while I was still pg with the Tiebreaker. Stay tuned for all the details!

Another shot of that mesmerizing mobile... :)

I'm not gonna lie... This decal was THE most challenging one I've ever done. That skinny font required ALL my patience and some kid-free alone time (but mainly just so they wouldn't hear my cussing, ha!) It was all worth it - the subway art was the perfect match for Bree's modern nursery.
The Etsy seller Little Love Letters looks closed, but if you search "subway art nursery decal," several other great options are available!

B is for Bree: This wall came together as Bree and I shopped after she got here... :) The white B is from a local trade days show (then painted by me!), some of the others are Hobby Lobby finds.... and Jill had thrown in some extra zebra-striped elephants when she did the decals that hang over the crib. Love her!

Watch me grow! Love the light in her nursery.... and that sweet elephant (from Mrs. Everything) was one of the first 'things' I had for Punkin's nursery!

These fun curtains were totally reasonable.... from Target!

Come on in, y'all! Another elephant from Jill welcomes you in.... :)

I wanted to DIY a nightlight, but.... it wasn't getting done, so I searched the web over until I found a zebra one. And now I don't even remember where I got it... ;)

I DID recover G-man's pirate trash can with some leftover material from Bree's bedding. She sent all the scraps and I was able to do a couple projects!

Hope you enjoyed a peek into Bree's nursery. This pic must have been a current one way back when I was first ready to share her room. :) Time flies, I can't even believe it! Next up... Punkin turns 1!!

About Me

I'm Elaine - just your average mom with 3!! sweet kids and an amazing husband... who works full time but still wants to be the creative, crafty mom who pulls off the best birthday parties, coolest class projects, and bakes cupcakes for school. Only I can't commute to my demanding job, run the house and family, and do all these things, so I fake it - a little creativity can go a long way. That's why we live a Semi Homemade Life...